This invention pertains generally to methods for decorating items and more specifically to a method for decorating an item of footwear such as a shoe, boot, clog, slipper, or sandal.
There is a variety of decorated footwear on the market today. However, the styles available are generally limited in color and design. To date, color has been incorporated into footwear at the manufacturing levelxe2x80x94either by dying the leather (or other material), using printed fabric (as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,339 to Masao Hara et al.), or using precolored plastics or dyed straw.
After the manufacturing process, objects such as rhinestones and applique have been affixed to the footwear, as in U.S. Pat. No. 1,977,995 to Morali, which discloses a method for mounting rhinestones or other metal decorations on a shoe. Moreover, to add decoration to footwear, e.g., shoes and boots, items have been applied in a pocket in the heel or side of the shoe as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,759,284 to Santisi, which discloses an ornament being trapped within a heel pocket of the shoe. Although polymer has been used in some of the prior art patents cited (such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,005 to Monn and U.S. patent application Ser. No. US2002/0078599 to Delgorgue et al.), it is used in a strictly utilitarian way, i.e., to waterproof or protect the items.
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing a piece of decorated footwear, which in the preferred embodiment is a shoe (but could also be a boot, sandal, slipper, clog, or any other item of footwear with a sole and an upper), such decorated footwear being created by a new method, whereby the area on the surface to be decorated (e.g., the upper, sole, or heel) is covered, after cleaning to remove loose dirt and dust, with one or more layers of an acrylic polymer emulsion gel and various decorative items, which may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional. The acrylic polymer emulsion gel layers are an integral part of the overall design of the decoration and vary according to the design goal, e.g., by thickness, number of coats, or finishxe2x80x94either matte or gloss. Furthermore, one or more of the acrylic polymer emulsion gel layers may be tinted, sculpted, or molded into three-dimensional designs.
One or more of the polymer gel layers is used to affix onto the surface, either interior or exterior, various sizes and types of colored paper and/or other decorative items, e.g., printed matter, photographs, or found objects. The application tool used for these layers also varies according to the design goal and may be, for instance, a brush, a sprayer, or even the artist""s fingers, and is generally chosen to accommodate the particular gel used (i.e., the thickness and finish), the types of items being affixed, and the contour of the surface. In the preferred embodiment, the artist""s fingers are used to apply at least the first polymer gel layer, allowing that the decorative items will be closely molded to the contoured surface of the shoe.
The first layer of the preferred embodiment is generally a thin polymer gel (gloss or matte finish) used to sufficiently adhere the paper or other decorative items to the clean shoe and to create the first layer of design and protection. (If the decorative items are printed matter, photos, or found objects, then the polymer gel may be a thicker type.) This first layer of polymer gel may be applied separately or it may be formed when the decorative items, having been first immersed in polymer gel, are applied to the clean shoe. If the decorative items have been first immersed in polymer gel, then their application to the shoe forms not only a first polymer gel layer next to the shoe but also a second polymer gel layer on top of the decorative items. After the first layers of polymer gel and decorative items, two additional layers of medium thickness polymer gel are usually applied to cover the area to be decorated. These top layers of polymer gel are chosen for design effect and may be gloss or matte finish, clear or tinted.
In alternate embodiments, one of the top layers of polymer gel can be built-up on the shoe and sculpted to make new designsxe2x80x94either abstract or real. Also, the shoe can be painted, stenciled, or ink stamped on the upper, heel, or sole, either before or after the gel application procedure. In other alternate embodiments, three-dimensional objectsxe2x80x94such as beads or found objectsxe2x80x94can be applied instead of, or in combination with, two-dimensional objects.